2019 - Every Runner - Every Run - Every Day

THANK YOU for another great season. The 2019 season saw many positives as the boys worked hard all season long to reach their individual and team goals. Many personal records were accomplished due to hard work over the off season, consistent training during the season, and mental toughness on race day. The JV team won the Hadler Invite and City Championships and saw Henry B win the Hadler Invite & City while Cole W won the JV1 Big Eight meet. Dylan A was All-City while AJ K was All-Conference and earned a trip to the WIAA State Meet. We ran many miles, difficult workouts like the ladder & Rosa Hills, and dedicated ourselves to the team and our goals. As we look forward to the future we want to give a THANK YOU to our graduating seniors. The team in the good hands of the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. We challenge the next group of JMM distance runners to make a plan and set a goal for next season. Through hard work and dedication the next season can be even better.

2019 Results

Division 1 State Meet - Team & Individual/Interactive
Sectional - Varsity
Big 8 Conference Meet (All Results)
Madison City Meet (All Results)

Team GPA - 3.531

For the tenth season in a row our team has exceeded our team goal for GPA (3.4 or higher). This was our 4th best performance in the last twelve years. KEEP WORKING HARD IN THE CLASSROOM!!! Our team has THREE student athletes with a perfect 4.0 GPA, who were joined by three other teammates for a perfect 4.0 GPA during the 1st quarter. 88.7% of our athletes met our individual goal of exceeding 3.0 for their cumulative GPA. Those athletes needing help in the classroom should ask a teammate, talk to their teachers, and get a tutor. There are many options available at Memorial if you take advantage of them. Keep up the great tradition of Memorial Distance Runners in the classroom.

Off Season Running 

Madison Mileage Club

Nov 3rd - Wisconsin USATF Cross Country Meet - Yahara GC - Madison, WI
Nov 10th - NXN Hearland Regional - Sioux Falls, SD 
Nov 28th - Berbee Derby - Fitchburg, WI 
Nov 30th - Footlocker Midwest Championships - UW Parkside - Kenosha, WI 
Dec 8th – Run Santa Run 5k – Madison, WI 
Dec 14th - USATF National Cross Country Meet - Yahara GC - Madison, WI (must qualify on 11/3) 
Dec 14th – Jingle Bell Run 5k – Verona, WI ($10 discount - with code STUDENT) 
Jan 1st – New Year’s Day Dash 5 mile – Middleton, WI 
Jan 11th – Sub Zero 5k – Madison, WI 
Jan 25th – Sub Zero 4 mile – Madison, WI 
Feb 8th – Sub Zero 5 mile – Madison, WI 
Feb 8th – Valentine’s Day 5k – Madison, WI 
Feb 22nd – Sub Zero 1 mile – Madison, WI

State - AJ = 3rd Best Frosh

The 2019 CC season concluded with the running of the WIAA state championships at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday. For the fourth time in the last five years JMM CC ended their season with representation at the State Championships. This year we were represented by freshman AJ K who earned the trip to state with his 4th place finish at Sectionals. AJ is the first Spartan to run at State since Phil Downs in 1988 (prior to the meet even being held at the Ridges). During the week of practice AJ proclaimed we should qualify the whole team to state next year and we were all in full agreement. There was great support for AJ both with teammates who practiced with him during the week and the runners and fans who came to cheer him on at the Ridges. The cold temperatures arrived early this year to Wisconsin and combined with the strong winds made the state meet a chilly race. The state meet is a race of the best runners in the state...getting out in a good position is important to where you will finish in the race. AJ got out in 5:17  being in 114th place out of 190 runners. He worked hard in the middle of the course on some difficult hills to move up to 111th place at the finish. The experience he earned in this race will go a long way in his running career. AJ and his teammates who were at the meet realized the state meet has some tough hills and amazing competition which makes it difficult to pass people during the race. AJ was one of eleven freshman in the field of 190 runners. He finished as the 3rd best frosh in the D1 race and many future goals to try to attain. It was exciting to conclude at state this year with an individual and now are attention turns to the goal of getting a team here to compete next season. It will take Every Runner, Every Run, and Every Day to accomplish this goal. The little things in the off season, in the weight room, in our running, and in our health will determine if we can reach this goal.

RESULTS
D1 Results
Interactive Results (all races)

NEXT MEET 
Intrasquad - August 29th, 2020...will you be ready?

NEWS & NOTES
End of Year Banquet - Nov 7th @ Rocky's - $10 at the door (RSVP by Tues - jmmcc@rocketmail.com)
$10 to Captains for Coaches' Gifts/Thanksgiving Baskets
Make a plan for your winter training

Sectional - Varsity = 4th, AJ qualifies as an Individual for State

Sectionals is about the top two teams and next five best individuals as they earn the right to compete at the WIAA State Meet. Some years we are looking to qualify as a team, some years we are trying to get individuals through and some years we are getting the opportunity to run one more race as a varsity program. It is so much more fun when guys are competing for the chance to go to state but that also opens up the opportunity for disappointment. We were not strong enough this year to make it out of our sectional but I hope the guys remember that disappointment a little bit in the off-season because six of our seven competitors and both alternates are underclassmen and can make the trip back to state as a team a reality as soon as next season. Today we had multiple individuals trying to get one of those five qualifier spots and were lucky enough to snag one this year.
Every year this meet has a Big 8 spin on the competition as all 5 Big 8 schools finished in the top 6 (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 6th). Today we got out a little slow and were playing catch up the second half of the race. Last week we were able to beat Verona but today they had our number and out lasted us. Middleton and West showed why they will have a chance to earn a trophy at state. We competed great against Verona and showed why both of our teams are ranked in the state and East only got beat by Monona Grove. On the individual sides DeForest got 1 runner, Verona got 2 runners, and AJ earned the 4th spot just ahead of Monona Grove's 1 runner. We met our team goal this year by putting 5 runners under 17:30 by sectionals and with each of these guys returning next season that goal will change and hopefully be enough for us to be one of the top two teams
AJ ran a great last mile finishing in a season best time of 16:48. Aidan P had his season best time today to be our #2 runner in 17:05. Dylan and Bobby crossed the line together in 17:16. Jake Z rounded out our scorers finishing in 17:30. Henry B ran 17:46 and senior Brett N finished out his career at sectionals in 18:05. Brett will be missed running in this group but I hope the underclassmen feel like they have some unfinished business they need to come back and complete starting next season and going forward for many future seasons. We turn our focus towards getting AJ reading for his first state meet competition and hopefully many Spartans can journey up to Wisconsin Rapids to cheer him on. It is fitting to have a runner representing our team at the state meet and look forward to adding more runners next year.

AJ kicks to finish 11th Overall & 4th Best Individual - 16:48

RESULTS
Madison West Sectional
All Sectional Results

NEXT MEET
Saturday November 2nd (AJ - individual)
WIAA State Meet @ Ridges GC - Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Bus - TBA
12:00 pm - First Race
12:40 pm - Girls D1 Race (Annika & Natalie)
2:35 pm - Boys D1 Race (AJ - Lane 8) (2018 Results)
4:30 pm - Awards - Top 2 teams & 10 individuals

NEWS & NOTES
State Meet - Spectator Information - Parking & Shuttles
Come to Wisconsin Rapids to cheer on Annika, Natalie, & AJ...cost is $8 per person

Team Banquet - Nov 7th @ Rocky's - RSVP to jmmcc@rocketmail.com

If you have pictures please sent them to Casey on a memory stick ASAP
Clean out lockers in the team room (JV Runners)
Get $ to your captains for Coaches Gifts/Thanksgiving Baskets ($10) or Team Shirts ($20)

UPCOMING OFF-SEASON RUNNING OPTIONS
Badger Track Club Fall Cross Country - Wednesdays at Elver
Nov 3rd - Wisconsin USATF Cross Country Meet - Yahara GC - Madison, WI
Nov 10th - NXN Hearland Regional - Sioux Falls, SD
Nov 28th - Berbee Derby - Fitchburg, WI
Nov 30th - Footlocker Midwest Championships - UW Parkside - Kenosha, WI
Dec 14th - USATF National Cross Country Meet - Yahara GC - Madison, WI (must qualify on 11/3)

Big 8 Conference - Varsity = 4th, JV1 = 5th, JV2 = 3rd

When I started coaching in the Big Eight Conference seventeen years ago the top teams were very good (Madison West was state runner-up but the only Big 8 school at state). Over the years the boys have added more and more talent to the conference as everyone tries to compete with those top teams (Last year Middleton was state runner-up and West was 5th & Sun Prairie 12th). Now, many of the Big 8 boys teams are very good as this year going into the Big 8 Championships their were 6 of the 10 schools ranked in the top 20 in the state. LaFollette (#2), Middleton (#3), West (#5), Verona (#9), Sun Prairie (#16), and Madison Memorial (#18). Our boys were prepared for competition with clear goals in mind and ready to take on "the hill" at Rockport Park. It is always fun to run cross country with great competition and nice weather and this year's Big 8 meet didn't disappoint.

The varsity started off the meet with a great performance topping Verona and Sun Prairie in a battle of teams for fourth place. Middleton, LaFollete, and West are great this year and will all have a chance to earn a trophy at the state meet they battled it out for a competitive top 3. Today we were not in the league of those teams but we were able to best two teams that were ranked ahead of us with a tight group and strong team running. We were led by AJ who earned 2nd team All-Conference with his 14th place overall finish. He was followed up by Dylan in 18th running 17:10. Aidan P was 26th in 17:25, Jake Z came in 29th in 17:30 followed immediately by Bobby R and Henry B in 17:31 for 30th and 31st respectively. Our varsity was rounded out by our lone senior Brett N finishing in 46th. Our gap of 39 seconds between # 1-5 runners was very helpful in our placing and our guys finished strong in the last mile to secure our 4th place finish. Six of these runners return and we hope to move this whole group closer to the front of the race because if we want to compete with the top teams in our Conference we need to have a bunch of single digit places to accomplish that goal. I'm excited to see how this group finishes out the season and what work can do to come back to this meet next season our goals are getting loftier...can we do the work to meet those goals?

Our JV1 team was coming off a great race at City and hopes were high at Conference. As the race unfolded their was a break at the front and only one of our runners was in the front pack. Our group put up a valiant effort to bridge the gap but it wasn't meant to be today. This group should hold their heads high as the season has been a great success and hopefully the underclassmen on the team can learn from this race. The one athlete who got in the front group was Junior Cole W who not only got to the front but executed the race strategy perfectly. He went up against some of the best JV runners in the state and came away as the Big 8 JV1 Champion! Just the third JMM individual to do this since Coach Casey has been here. Our gap was over 45 seconds until our next runner where as at City our 1 - 5 gap was 30 seconds total. The rest of the guys finished strong together to help us finish 5th as a team. Charles ML led in all the scorers followed by Mick S, Jacob W, and Sean S. Peter B and Sam S rounded out the JV1 squad on the day. Our depth has been our strength but today it was not to be. The seniors in this group have had a great cross country career and I look for the underclassmen to push to try to train with the varsity kids as early as this winter off-season.

JV2 allows some kids to run at the front of a race that maybe don't always get a chance and a nice opportunity to show off a teams depth. With 55 runners we do a nice job in a race like this. Today we had a good mix of upcoming talent and hard working upper class kids. Two of our Varsity runners today ran in last year's JV2 race...who can make that jump this year? Thomas and Nick led our group across with top ten finishes. They were followed by our pack of freshman including Alvaro, Gio, and Jack. These guys combined for a 3rd place finish in JV2. Rees and Matthew rounded out our scoring seven on the day. Silas P and Micah S had lifetime best times as did Elliot I and Max L. It is always great to see the progress these kids make from week 1 until week 9 of the season. I challenge these underclassmen to put in the work over the next 9 months so they start week 1 of next season even better than where they left off week 9 this year.

Every Runner - Every Run - Every Day

"You cannot train alone and expect to run a fast time. There is a formula: 100% of me is nothing compared to 1% of the whole team. And that’s teamwork. That’s what I value." ~Eliud Kipchoge

Time Lapse Video of his Sub 2 Hour Marathon

CONFERENCE RESULTS
Varsity Boys
JV1 Boys
JV2 Boys

Charles ML came back from being down 2 - 1 to win the best of 5 rock-paper-scissor tournament over Peter B with an unprecedented paper on his final round

NEXT MEET
Saturday October 26th (Varsity Only)
WIAA Sectional @ Lake Farm Park
Bus - 8:30am
11:00am - Girls Varsity
11:45am - Boys Varsity (2018 Results)
12:30pm - Awards - Top 2 teams & top 5 individuals not on those teams

**Come on out & cheer on your teammates for a chance to qualify for WIAA State**

END OF SEASON NEWS & NOTES
- Mandatory Team Meeting - Mon 10/21 - 3:45 - 4:15pm in Team Locker Room
JV athletes should turn in their uniform...they will be provided with end of season and off-season information
- Captains are collecting $10 for Coaches' Gifts & Thanksgiving Baskets
- Boys interested in ordering a 2019 JMM CC long sleeve shirt should bring $20 on Monday and give with size to captains
- Team Banquet will be at Rocky's on Thurs Nov 7th (handout coming home Monday)

UPCOMING OFF-SEASON RUNNING OPTIONS
Badger Track Club Fall Cross Country - Wednesdays at Elver
Nov 3rd - Wisconsin USATF Cross Country Meet - Yahara GC - Madison, WI
Nov 10th - NXN Hearland Regional - Sioux Falls, SD
Nov 28th - Berbee Derby - Fitchburg, WI
Nov 30th - Footlocker Midwest Championships - UW Parkside - Kenosha, WI
Dec 14th - USATF National Cross Country Meet - Yahara GC - Madison, WI (must qualify on 11/3)